Archive for the ‘Farming’ Category

Check out the Farmers and Artisans Market in the North Village Arts District on Sundays from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information visit their website here.

I found this simple but helpful website and wanted to share it with all of you.  Some good ideas on cutting the cord to the box stores and planting your own flag of food independence.  I have you heading to the “winter” section but check out the table of contents at the top of the page for other ideas.  Give it a look!
http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Achieving-Food-Independence-Winter.html

!!!THE FORECAST IS FOR RAIN BUT THIS EVENT IS BEING HELD INDOORS IN THE NEW CONFERENCE CENTER AT BRADFORD!!!

Tomorrow, Thursday September 9, from 4 to 7:30 PM, Bradford Research and Extension Center will host the annual Tomato Festival.  This family event will feature more than 50 different kinds of tomatoes that include popular garden types and the old varieties that our grandparents grew (heirlooms).

This year the festival will include the hottest pepper on earth–the Bhut jolokia–in 10 different salsas to sample.  Think you can handle a pepper that is four times hotter than the habanero?????  Try it and see!

The 6th Annual Tomato Festival at
Bradford Research and Extension Center
When: 4 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday Sept 9
Where:  4968 Rangeline Road. Directions: Go east on Broadway past Columbia city limits. Turn right at Rangeline Road. After about two miles, turn right into the Bradford Research farm. 
Take this short and beautiful drive out into the country and have a great family time that is FREE of charge!

Casey Corbin will lead a parade of cars who would like some guidance to the farm at 5:20 pm tomorrow from the Columbia Farmers Market Gravel Pad across from the ARC.  Meet there and we can all carpool and follow each other out to the festival!!  If you want to join in the carpool parade, email casey — casey@farmersmarketpavilion.org or call 823-FOOD 
Rain?  Who cares? This event is indoors in the new conference center at the reseearch center!

For more info:

http://aes.missouri.edu/bradford/events/tomato-festival.php

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/09/06/how-hot-can-you-go/

Judy Baker, Chris Stevens, Don Ginsburg and other local celebrities enjoy the feast!

At the Taste of The Market, 2009, three Local Chef/Local Farm Dinners were auctioned to benefit Sustainable Farms & Communities Pavilion Project. Chef Ben Randolph and farmer Dan Kuebler teamed up to host a dinner for eight at the Salad Garden Farm. Our dinner was bought by Sharon & Don Ginsburg, Judy & John Baker, Bonnie Trickey & Larry Giddeon, and Jennifer Perlow & Chris Stephens. Kim Coldicott and I were on hand to assist.

We began with icy mint tea and a tour of the farm showing vegetable production in the fields and high tunnels, along with the solar powered irrigation system. Dinner started on the deck under a canopy but rain moved us inside to a grand harvest table.

Ben Randolph, former Executive Chef at Trattoria Strada Nova and currently Chef at Harpo’s, created a seasonal tasting menu highlighting local foods from our farm and others at the Columbia Farmers Market. The multi course meal featured many small plates giving a sense of the chef’s style and range.  The guests enjoyed seven courses:

Tomato Trio
Gazpacho
Caprese Salad
BLT with Crocker Farm’s Bacon & Heirloom Tomato

Yellow Sweet Corn Bisque
Powdered Salsa
Shrimp Ceviche

Herd Salad in Truffle Vinaigrette

Troutdale Farm’s Trout
Sautéed and Sweet pickled Chard
Baby Patty Pan Squash
Green Beans

Susie’s Grass Fed Lamb Strip Steak
Mint
Eggplant
New Potato
Red Onion
Chili Oil

Grilled Peaches
Ginger Crème Anglaise
Beurre Noisette (Brown Butter handmade) Ice Cream

 Goats Beard Farm Fromage
Feta with Pink Peppercorns and Bonne Femme Honey
Chèvre with Country Goodies Apricot Preserve
Missouri Moon with Dates and Norton Syrup

 The presentation was glorious with unique and artistic plating. Chef Ben did an excellent job matching the impromptu selection of wines brought by the guests with the corresponding courses. Fabulous food and excellent  conversation were enjoyed by all.

Chef Ben Randolph and Farmer Dan Kuebler will be donating another Chef’s Tasting Dinner at this year’s Taste of the Market. Other auction dinners available are Chef Trey Quinlan at Deep Mud Farm and finally Mike Odette of Sycamore will host a dinner for six in the winning bidder’s home!!  These auctions will be held at the 2010 Taste of the Market this Saturday, Aug 7, from 6-9:30 pm across from the ARC!

Go to the homepage to get tickets to the event and bid on one of these amazing dinners!

Diane La Mar
The Salad Garden
Diane is a local psychotherapist and freelance writer, and lives at The Salad Garden Farm with her husband Dan Kuebler.

By Dan Kuebler

Grass seems to be the major crop these days at the farm due to the continued rains.  However, our rain gauge only had 1.5 inches over the last seven days or so, compared to Columbia where we’ve heard reports of over 3 inches just this past Wednesday afternoon.

Little need for irrigation except in our one tall tunnel which houses our forty or so Heirloom tomato plants.  The plants are looking good so far and we’ve picked close to 50 pounds this past two weeks.  We did have plastic over both our tall tunnels but the wind blew the plastic off from our south tunnel three weeks ago.  We didn’t really mind this since the plastic was going on its sixth year and it’s usual longevity is four years.  It tore it off very neatly on each end and one side and flipped it onto the ground so I could easily cut the last side off and fold it up for handling. I appreciate Mother Nature when she helps me out like that.

The hairy vetch cover crops have been mowed down several weeks ago and over the past several days tilled into the soil.  This week we will broadcast buckwheat into these plots as a summer cover crop and pull an old bedspring over it with the tractor to lightly cover the seeds. The buckwheat loves the heat of the summer, very quickly germinates and does an excellent job of keeping weeds out of the plot. Later this summer we will mow it down, incorporate the organic matter into the soil and then follow that with a winter cover crop probably of oats. 

We also tilled in a cover of white clover on a plot of about 4,000 sq. ft.  We are preparing to erect a new movable tall tunnel on this area.  We have wanted to have a movable tunnel since 1990 when we first read of them.  Ours will be 30’ x 48’ and it will have the capacity to be moved over three areas during the year for spring, summer and winter crops.  We will be picking up this structure in the next week or two and then begin the process of putting it together and laying out the track that it will roll on.  We will keep you posted every month on how this goes and will have pictures to share of our experiences.  Later this fall we plan to have a field day in conjunction with the Small Farm Today Trade Show the first weekend in November.  Any one who reads this is invited to come out, so be looking for more information later this fall.

In the next BLOG for August be looking for an update on our repair work on the re-wiring of the solar pump (pesky muskrats).